Speaking to his favorite radical left-wing "reporter" Yoel Marcus from Haaretz, Sharon explained that the issue of releasing murderers is of "decisive importance" to Abbas and his deputies and that Israel just has to do this for them to ensure the stability of their new legitimate, democratically elected, anti-terror, reformed regime.
But something is amiss here. If Abbas is supposed to be convincing the Palestinians that they have to reject terrorism, it seems odd for him to be insisting that Israel conduct a mass release of convicted terrorists, let alone murderers. Abbas justifies this demand by claiming that these men and women are Palestinian heroes and that his people won't accept their remaining in prison.
Yet his acceptance of the notion that these war criminals are heroes of the Palestinian people makes it hard to imagine that he has anything but admiration for the crimes they committed – namely acts of terrorism against Israelis. Far from opposing terrorism and being poised to purge the scourge from Palestinian society, in his first act as the legitimate, democratically elected, anti-terror, reform leader, Abbas is sticking out his neck to support terrorism.
{…}
The second reason why Sharon and Ya'alon's support for the release of terrorists is jarring is because it constitutes an Israeli acceptance of the Palestinian claim that the use of terror against Israel is legitimate. This point is made even more abundantly clear by Israel's mute acceptance of Abbas's plan to integrate Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad into the official PA militias and bureaucracies.
Indeed. But as outrageous as the decision is to release the 500 convicted terrorists is; the ignominy does not end there. In Gluck’s column we also learn that the Sharon government decided in a separate gesture of good will towards Abu Mazen’s government that the Palestinian terrorists who were exiled in 2002 for their part in the siege on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem will be allowed to return to the Occupied Territories.
On the sidelines of the government's decision to release the 500 terrorists was a separate decision to allow the terrorists deported from Bethlehem in 2002 – after they took over, desecrated and laid siege to the Church of the Nativity for 39 days –to return to the city and face no charges for their crimes. This decision has the Christians of Bethlehem in a blind panic.One of the cornerstones of any free society is the enfranchisement of minority rights. The Palestinian Authority has never shown any inclination that it was prepared to establish or protect minority rights. The persecution of ethnic and religious minority groups (Christian, Druze, Domi, Jewish) in the Occupied Territories by the Palestinian Authority is lengthy and well documented.
Back in 2002, the members of this gang summarily executed more than a dozen Christians, including children. They raped Christian girls, took over Christian homes in Beit Jala to fire at Israelis in Jerusalem, extorted money from Christian businessmen and expropriated Christian-owned farmlands. As one Christian put it at the time of their deportation, "They hate us Christians more than they love Palestine."
Yet, at Abbas' insistence, and in the interest of bucking up his legitimate, democratically elected, anti-terror, reform minded regime, Israel has decided to let these war criminals come home to a hero's welcome. After two years of rest and relaxation in Europe, they will no doubt resume their campaign to destroy all vestiges of Christianity in Bethlehem in no time at all.
Conferring statehood on a group of people that is not willing to protect minority rights or offer equal protection to women under the law is to be a party to that persecution. The whole issue of Jewish settlements could be dealt without the forcible removal of those settlements in the Occupied Territories - if the Palestinian Authority was not committed to the persecution of minorities. The settlement question could be dealt with by offering settlers the option keeping Israeli citizenship by returning to Israel proper or conferring Palestinian citizenship on those settlers who for religious reasons wish to remain in their homes. Certainly a population of approximately 338,000 people in a total population numbering in the millions cannot be seen as a viable threat to any potential government committed to a governing on established principles of democracy and freedom. Which begs the question; why are we in the west supporting the creation of another tyrannical state in the Middle East?
No comments:
Post a Comment